Musings on World events from the perspective of a Social and an Economic Liberal.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Its worse than you think...

Travelling to Edinburgh in a nearly gale- NOT assuredly a hurricane- reveals Britain at almost its worst. I travel in a diesel train, but we are forced to adhere to a 50 MPH restriction imposed on electric trains, even though the train is already 15 minutes late, so there are no electric trains immediately ahead of us- it is just "the restriction- for your safety". No, it is a restriction for insurance or for operational reasons or for signalling reasons. It is not for the passengers, it is for the company. Yet, despite the large number of passengers missing connections, we are supposed to believe the health and safety spiel- no matter that it is not the truth.

This is where I find myself losing my temper.

Across almost all aspects of British life, we are not given the true information, but merely bluffed with customer service bullshit. It is as though the people here could not handle the truth, that everything must be sugar coated. I can see a gale outside, but it is not that serious: trees are not uprooted, rivers are not much flooding. We are, in short, making a crisis out of a drama.

It is self indulgent. It is infantile. It is destructive. It is pathetic.

Whatever happened to the stiff upper lip?

As for what I find in my old home of Edinburgh- this must await another, later blog, I am too sad, too angry, too sick to describe my immediate impressions. This is a third class, third rate, third world capital charging first world prices and then some. In my hotel I am paying not only more than I paid in London, but more than I paid for a much better hotel in Zurich a few months ago.

1 comment:

AndyInEssex
said...

Yes, Cicero, things are Bad in Scotland. On a recent visit to our homeland, with some Swiss Chums, I was walking to the nearby railway station. As I came round the corner, I could hear what sounded like a Loud, Domestic quarrel going on. However, there was but one voice to be heard. As I got nearer, i could see a Man jabbing his finger and shouting in a threatening manner. A closer look revealed that he was arguing with - a Drain Pipe! Moments later he administered a Glasgow kiss to said artefact. I hurried on. It was a Friday evening, but goodness knows what he was on. It's not just the Drink anymore, but much worse.I've just returned from the Manchester, Rochdale area and had to tell you that it really is 'Grim up North' - a different country indeed. What happened to it???